Alfalfa-mill.



A. D. DAVIES & L. H. BEMEN.

ALFALFA MILL.

APPLICATION men MAR. 1a, 1913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET1 WITNESSES Akwip. I

ATTORNEY THE NoRials PETERS co.. FHOTO-LITHO, wAsHmcmN, b c.

A. D. DAVIES & L. H. BEMEN. ALFALFA MILL. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8,I913.

1,143, 166. Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY PHE NORRISPETER5 CO., FHmLITHCL, WASHlNOmhfl-D. K'.

A. D. DAVIES & L. H. BEMEN.

ALFALFA MILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.18, 1913.

1, 1 43, 1 06.. Patented June 15, 1915.

'3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WITNESSES ATTORNEY I": NUK KIS PETERS 60., PHOWLITHQ,wAsi-HNGIUN. D. it,

ADRIAN D. DAVIES AND LOUIS I-I. BEMEN,

THIRD TO WILLIAM H. TYLER, 0F PUE DAVIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

0]? PUEBLO, COLORADO, ASSIGNORS OF ONE- BLO, COLORADO, AND TWO-THIRDS TOSAID ALFALFA-MILL.

Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed March 18, 1913. Serial No. 755,180.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ADRIAN D. DAVIES and LOUIS H. BEMEN, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Pueblo, in the county of Pueblo andState of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inAlfalfa-Mills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention is an improvement in chopping or grinding mills and,while many of its features are applicable to such mills generally, theinvention is particularly adapted for use in mills for grinding alfalfainto meal and it is in this embodiment that we have elected to show it.

The objects of our invention are: to devise a mill of the classdescribed in which there shall be no necessity for the use of a screen;to so design the machine that the material to be ground may besuccessively subjected to the action of a cutting and a chopping orgrinding cylinder; to provide a mill through which the material to beground may be drawn by suction without the use of exterior vacuumdevices if de-' sired; and to construct the shell of the grindingcylinder of interchangeable and reversible sections.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will later appear in thespecification and be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the three sheets of drawings accompanying this application andforming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire deviceas viewed from the left hand side, certain of the parts being brokenaway to more clearly show hidden parts; Fig. 2 is a plan view of thedevice, the two cylinders and the fan being shown in horizontal section;Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of. one of the cutting teeth;Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective of one of the toothed bars which closethe rear of the first or cutting cylinder; Fig. 5 is a detail side viewof the gearing for driving the feeding mechanism; Fig. 6 shows, on anenlarged scale, a side and edge View of one of the fan or feeding teethwhich are placed at intervals on the second or grinding cylinder; andFig. 7 is a detail showing the manner of attaching the teeth to theshells and drums.

In the preferred form of our invention illustrated in the drawings, themill is shown as mounted on a truck composed of side channel members 11and cross channel members 12 mounted on rear wheels 13, 13, and frontwheels 11, 14:; but we do not wish to limit ourselves to the particularform of mounting shown as any style of either stationary or portablemounting may be employed without departing from our invention. Adjacentthe forward end of the ma= chine there is located a feeder 15 of anydesired type, which delivers the material to be ground to the feedingrolls 16, 16 which in turn deliver it to the first or cutting cylinderC. The shell of this cylinder is built up of an upper casing section 17and a lower casing section 18 between which at the front there is left amouth 19 where the alfalfa enters and an exit opening at the rearpartially closed by a series of vertical bars 20 preferably formed withserrations or teeth 21, substantially as shown in Fig. 4. The lowersection 18 is mounted on the frame by means of perforated lugs 22 andbolts 23 and the upper section is joined to the lower by means of bolts2-1. The ends of this shell are closed by half-circle segments 25, whichare largely broken away in Fig. 1 to more clearly show the interiorparts. On the interior of the shell there are mounted teeth 26 which arelocated in spaced relation so as to permit of the passage in closeproximity thereto of teeth 27 on the rotating drum 28. The teeth 27 alsointermesh with the bars 20 at the rear of the cylinder 0. Fig. 3 shows atooth T in enlarged detail view and the teeth 26 and 27 are shaped likethe tooth T there shown.

Around the opening in the rear of the cylinder 0 there is located a hood29 communieating with a pipe 30 leading to the grinding or choppingcylinder G. This cylinder has an outer cylindrical shell composed ofinterchangeable, reversible sections divided on a vertical plane andprovided with an interlocking joint 33 at the bottom and with perforatedears 31 at the top receiving clamping bolts 35. The section 31 has anopening 36 leading to the interior of the shell and the section 32 has acorrespondmg opening 37. The openings 36 and 3 are located on oppositesides of the axial plane which forms the division line between thesections and symmetrically with respect to one another so as to reversepositions if the sections be reversed. The pipe 30 connects with theopening 36 and a pipe 38 leads from the opening 37. The pipe 38 leads toa suction fan 39 which discharges into a pipe 40 leading to a packer,bin or the llke (not shown). On the interior of the shell sections '31,32, there are located at spaced intervals teeth 41, also similar inshape to the tooth T shown in Fig. 2, and coiiperating similar teeth 42on the exterior of a closed drum 43 are in position to pass so closelyby the teeth 41 as to finely subdivide any substance caught betweenthem. We prefer toplace at intervals on the drum 43 a series of widerteeth 44 (shown in enlarged view in Fig. 6) and these teeth 44 areplaced in inclined position as shown for a purpose later to bedescribed. It will of course be understood that the teeth 41 must bespaced farther apart at suitable places to accommodate the teeth 44.

The main driving belt of the machine is indicated by the numeral 45 andthis belt travels in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 2. Thisbelt passes over a pulley 46 on the end of the shaft 47 to which issplined the drum 43. On the opposite end of the shaft 47 there is apulley 48 over which runs the belt 49. The belt 49 turns the pulley 50mounted on the shaft 51 to which is splined the drum 28. A gear 52 ismounted on the right hand end of the shaft 51 and this meshes with agear 53 on a counter-shaft 54 which carries a sprocket wheel 55 fordriving the feeding mechanism through the sprocket chain 56. This chaintravels in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 5 and passes over asprocket 57 on the end of roll 16*, over sprocket 58 on the drum 59which drives the conveyer 15, over sprocket 60 on roll 16 and back tothe sprocket 55. The sprocket 58 is larger than the sprockets 57 and 60(we prefer to make the ratio two to one) and therefore the feed rolls16, 16, travel faster than the conveyer 15.

The fan 39 is driven from the shaft 47 through the medium of belts 61,62, and cone pulley or similar devices 63, 64, are provided, by means ofwhich the speed of the fan may be varied at will.

The shape of cutting and grinding teeth which we prefer to employ isshown in Fig. 3. .The teeth are rectangular in section and have concavefaces in order to provide a sharper edge and one which may be moreeasily maintained sharp. These teeth are threaded at their lower endsandare beveled as shown above the threaded portion to provide a rectangularbeveled part to fit in a similar rectangular beveled socket in the drumor shell in which they are mounted, substantially as shown in Fig. 7. Weprefer to attach the teeth by means of a lock-nut washer '65 and a nut66 which engages the threaded portion 67of the'tooth T. On account ofthis mounting it is impossible for Y the teeth to become turned in theirsockets and striking and consequent breaking of the teeth is thusavoided. r

The operation of our mill is as follows: The alfalfa or other materialto be ground is fed on the conveyer 15. When it reaches the top of theconveyer it is grasped by the feed rolls 16, 16 and forced into thecylinder C. There by engagement between the teeth 26 and the rapidlymoving teeth 27 it is broken up into short lengths and at the same timeis carried forward in a circumferential direction. When it reaches thebars 20 it passes therebetween if it has been broken sufliciently small;otherwise these bars strip it from the teeth with which it may havebecome entwined and it is carried around for another revolution, oruntil it is sufficiently small to pass between the bars. Suction thencarries it through the pipe 30 and delivers it at the right hand end ofthe cylinder G. The drum 43 being closed the partially ground materialis driven by centrifugal force to the exterior of the cylinder and itthen begins a passage longitudinally of-the cylinder. As it progressesit is repeatedly subjected to the cutting action of the closelyimpinging teeth (we prefer to space the movable teeth from thestationary ones a distance of from one eighth to one sixteenth of aninch though we do not wish to limit ourselves to these precisedimensions). It will be evident thatit will be impossible for thematerial acted upon to pass the entire length of the cylinder G withoutbeing repeatedly brought between co5perat-' ing knives and reduced'to avery fine conditlon; and it will also be plain that the fineness will begoverned by the speed with ciently close and the drum is revolved withsuflicient rapidity will be a mixture of meal of moderate fineness withshort pieces of crushed stems reduced to fiber. This prod uct, while notas fine or as uniform as that produced by the use of both cylinders asdescribed, is well adapted for feeding to stock and we contemplatemaking the mill with only one cylinder for certain uses.

The teeth M of the cylinder G also have a fan action which tends toforce the material forward and we contemplate in certain instancesdispensing entirely with the fan 89 and relying solely on the fan actionof the teeth 44. For purposes of permitting adjustment, however, weprefer to use both the fan and the teeth 44. Likewise the teeth 44 maybe dispensed with and the fan 39 alone relied upon to furnish the propersuction.

It will be observed that by shaping the shell sections 31 and 32 of thecylinder G as shown and locating the openings 36 and 37 as indicated,the shell sections are made reversible. When reversed, the sides of theteeth 41 opposite to those engaged in the former position will bebrought into operative position and thus both pairs of cutting edges maybe utilized. The making of the shells in sections as shown also has theadvantage that extra sections may always be held in readiness to replacethose in which teeth have become dulled or broken, thus avoiding delayswhile repairs are being made.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a grinding cylinder comprising ashell, cutting teeth projecting inwardly from the surface of the shell,a closed drum within the shell, cutting teeth projecting outwardly fromthe drum, fan teeth upon the drum, and means for feeding the material tobe ground longitudinally of the cylinder.

2. In a device of the class described, a grinding cylinder comprising ashell composed of two sections, each section having an opening thereindisposed at one side of the aXis of the cylinder but symmetrically withrespect to the opening in the remaining section, a closed drum in saidcylinder, cutting devices between the shell and the drum, and means forfeeding the material tobe ground longitudinally of the cylinder.

3. In a device of the class described, a grinding cylinder comprising ashell composed of two sections, each section having an opening thereindisposed at one side of the axis of the cylinder but symmetrically withrespect to the opening in the remaining section, cutting teethprojecting inwardly from the surface of the shell, a closed drum withinthe shell, teeth project ing outwardly from the drum and intermeshingwith said first mentioned teeth, and means for feeding the material tobe ground longitudinally of the cylinder.

4:. In a device of the class described, a grinding cylinder comprising ashell, said shell having feeding and discharge openings in opposite endsthereof, a closed drum within the shell, cooperating cutting devices onthe drum and the shell, fan teeth upon the drum, a pipe connected withthe discharge opening, a suction fan in said pipe, and means for varyingthe speed of the fan.

5. In a device of the class described, a cutting cylinder comprising acasing open 011 two sides, a rotating member within the casing, teethprojecting from the casing, teeth on the rotating member in position tocooperate with the teeth on the casing, and bars arranged in thedischarge opening of the casing and disposed in a tangential directionwith respect to the casing.

6. In a device of the class described, a cutting cylinder comprising acasing having feeding and discharge openings on its sides, a drum withinthe casing, teeth projecting from the casing, teeth projecting from thedrum in position to cooperate with the teeth on the casing, and toothedbars arranged in the discharge opening and disposed in a tangentialdirection with respect to the casing and the drum.

7. In a device of the class described, a cutting cylinder comprising acasing having feeding and discharge openings on its sides, a drum withinthe casing, teeth projecting from the casing, teeth projecting from thedrum, bars arranged in the discharge opening and disposed in atangential direction with respect to the casing and the drum, the teethon the drum being so proportioned and located as to intermesh with theteeth on the casing and with the tangential bars.

8. In a device of the class described, a cutting cylinder comprising acasing having feeding and discharge openings on its sides, a drum withinthe casing, teeth projecting from the casing, teeth projecting from thedrum, toothed bars arranged in the discharge opening and disposed in atangential direction with respect to the casing and the drum, the partsbeing so proportioned that the teeth on the drum intermesh with theteeth on the casing and with the tangential bars.

9. In a device of the class described, a horizontal cutting cylindercomprising a casing having feeding and discharge openings in its sides,a drum within the casing, teeth projecting from the casing, cooperatingteeth projecting from the drum, and vertical bars disposed within thedischarge opening.

10. In a device of the class described, a cutting cylinder comprising acasing having lateral feed and discharge openings, cutting teethprojecting inwardly from said casing, a rotary member within the casing,cutting teeth projecting outwardly from said rotary member, a grindingcylinder comprising a casing having terminal feed and dischargeopenings, cutting teeth projecting inwardly from said casing, a rotarymember Within said casing, cutting teeth our signatures in the presenceof two witprojecting outwardly from said last mennesses. tioned rotarymember, and a pipe connect- ADRIAN D. DAVIES. ing the discharge openingof the cutting LOUIS H. BEMEN.

5 cylinder with the feed opening of the grind- Witnesses:

CHARLES W. ODONNELL,

ing cylinder.

CHAS. H. WILLIAMS.

In testimony whereof We hereunto aflix Gopies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G.

